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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

April 13 is National Scrabble Day! I love Scrabble. My two all time favorite board games are Scrabble and Monopoly.The idea of Scrabble is so simple. You have a playing board with a grid, and little wooden letters. When it is your turn, you make words with the wooden letters. Each wooden letter tile has a point value, so you want to make a word with as many points as possible.This game was created in 1938 by American architect Alfred Mosher Butts. It was originally called Criss-Crosswords, and he could not find a toy company that wanted to buy.James Brunot bought the rights to this game in 1948 and made games with his family in Connecticutt. Jack Strauss, the president of Macy's, played the game on a vacation trip and loved it. He discovered Macy's did not carry the game ... and he changed that. It was a huge hit!Selchow and Righter bought the game rights in 1952. Rights later went to Coleco, and then Hasbro.

Here are a few fun facts:

Scrabble was a game show on daytime tv beginning in 1984. It was hosted by Chuck Woolery.

April 13 is Scrabble creator Alfred Mosher Butts' birthday.

Scrabble comes in a Braille edition.

The highest tile points are for Q and Z (10 points each).

The highest possible score word, with 1782 points, is OXYPHENBUTAZONE.

Over 30,000 Scrabble games are started each hour.

Over 150 million Scrabble games have been sold.

53% of all homes in Great Britain own a Scrabble game; in the United States this number is 33%.

Scrabble tiles have been featured on record album covers by Crowded House and World Party.

A number of books feature Scrabble games, including The Handmaid's Tale, Lolita, and Rosemary's Baby.

Prince Charles and Scrabble both turned 60 the same year. A portrait of Prince Charles was created with Scrabble tiles to commemorate the event. Scrabble entered the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004.

I would love to find a Scrabble app for my phone that doesn't drain the battery. I love Words With Friends, but it really does a number on battery usage! Is there another app you recommend, or perhaps a tip for Words With Friends usage that will reduce battery drain?

Do you enjoy Scrabble? Any Scrabble memories? I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

About Me

Trish is a long-time online seller who loves all things vintage, but especially vintage children's books and ephemera. In other lives, worked as a bookstore manager and preschool teacher. Always pursuing vintage treasures, great reads, interesting words, and happiness.